Bobbin cleaner



E. A. TRRELI.

BOBBIN CLEANER FJ led yDec, 18, 1920 '6 sheets-sheet l Apr. 10 '1923.

E. A. TERRELL BoBBlN CLEANER F1 led Deer. 18, 1920 e sheetg sheet 2 gul-mum Apr. 10,1923. 1,451,239

. E. A. TERRELL @tuto/1440434,

Apr. 10, 1923.

E. A. TERRELL BOBBIN CLEANER Filed Dec. 18, 1920 6 sheets-sheet 4 mvcwfoz Snow m35 1,451,239 E. A. TERRELL BOBBIN CLEANER Apr. l0, 1923.

Filed Dec.- 18, 1920 6 sheets-sheet 5 i j JA Wenko? @gf W e la Apr. 10,1923.

1,451,239 E. A. TERRELL.

BOBBIN 'CLEANER Filed Dec. 18, 1920 6 sheets-sheet 6 l//l//l//l/l//lllll/llll111 IIIA @www2-7 Patented Apr. 10, 1923.

BOBBIN CLEANER'.

Application filed December 18, 1920. Serial No. 431,756.

To all w hom t may concern Be it known that I, EDGAR A. TERRELL, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Charlotte. county of Mecklenburg, and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bobbin Cleaners, of which the following is a full and clear specification.

This invention relates to machines for removing the tail-ends of yarn, etc. from spent bobbins. Heretofore this has been done either by (1) unwinding, or (2) pulling or pushing the windings ofl'vthe tapered end of the bobbin, or severing the wrappings of the yarn at one point on a line approximately withv the axis4 of the bobbin. Each one of these methods has its defects` especially where used for stripping the softer yarns that are used on the bobbins employed in certain spinning and' twisting and roving operations. It is the object of my invention to provide a machine which will expeditiously carry out the operation of removing. the yarn from the bobbin by a delinting method, so as not only to avoid injuring the bobbin but also to remove the varn in the form of lint instead of in a string or strings, whereby the removed yarn is in much better condition for reworking in various ways.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a perspective view with the lintbox partly broken away;

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of a part of the lint-box;

Fig. 3 is a detail plan of apart of the bobbin-conveyor;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the same;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the machine, the parts being in side elevation;

Fig. 6 is a view partly in plan and partly in horizontal section of the machine Fig. 7 is a detail View of the tightening device of the elastic presser;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a modification of myy machine, showing the air currents inthe lint-box;

Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view in side elevation;

Fig. 1() is a cross section seen from the left 'of Fig. 9, omitting the lower portion of the lint box';

Fig.l 11 is a detail view of the rotary bobbin-'conveyorg' l Figs; 12I and 134 are side and end views,

respectively, of the `card clothing belt which strips the bobbins;

- Figs. 14, 15, and 16 are cross-sections taken on thecorresponding lines of Fig. 11. Referring` to the draw-ings annexed by 'reference-numerals. v10 designates a pair of 'same time will be free to rotate each within its pocket. v

vThe belts 10 are carried by` two sets of belt-wheels 15 and 16, the latter being considerably larger than the wheels 15. The belts are driven in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. i5 by mechanism hereinafter described. lThe conveyor is enclosed by a stationary casing 17 shaped to' enclose the conveyor and yet permit the conveyor to move freely within it. Thel casing is provided on its upper side with a slot or opening through which thevbobbins are placed within the conveyor as it moves toward the larger endof the machine, and the bot-tom ofthe casing is providedwith an opening or slot out through which the "cleaned lbobbins fall. The bobbi'ns may be fed to the conveyor one byv one by hand or by a suitable feeding hopper' such as shown in Linder Ica. y

Patent No. 1,273,075, dated July 16, 1918A the discharge-chute of which ,is shownv at 18 in Fig. 5'. I

@n a .shaft 19 ,extending through the larger end. of the casing is .affixed aroll 20 which is provided on its face with .a multiplicity of'flexible teeth such as used in cardclothing1 the teeth beingl attached to the roll preferably by fastening the card-clothing, to the surface of the roll. This carding-roll 2O is rotated rapidly with respect to the bobbin-conveyor by means of a beltwheel 21 ailixed to one end of the shaft and a crossed belt 22v connecting said belt-wheel 21 to asmaller belt-wheel 23 ailixed to the I behind the roll 20, this shaft 24 being` extended out through the opposite side of the casing and being provided with a belt-wheel 25 on said extended end, which belt-wheel is connected by a. belt 26 to any' suitable motor power. The shaft 24 is provided with a comb-roll 27 whose flexible teeth engage the ends of the flexible teeth on the delintingroll 2O and remove the lint therefrom, the surface speed of the comb-roll being of course greater than the surface speed of the delinting-roll 20.

The combroll is mounted within a suction chamber 23 arranged inside of the main casing and immediately behind the delinting-roll 20, this suction chamber being)` at all vtimes in communication with the inlet 29 of a fan 30 whose fan-legs are mounted on the aforesaid shaft 24 so that during the entire operation of the machine a suction action will be maintained on chamber 28. The upper side of the suction chamber is inclined upwardly and rearwardly so as to form a support for the ingoing side of the endless carrier and also for the bobbins after they are placed on the carrier and before they reach the delinting-roll.

The shaft 19 is extended through the casingr at the opposite side from the belt-wheel 21 and is provided with a worm 3l which meshes with a worm-gear 32 aflixed to a shaft 33, which shaft drives, by means of bevel-gears 34, a shaft 35. This shaft 35 is provided with gears 36 which mesh with gears 37 carried by the belt-wheels 16. lin this way, the two belt-wheels 16 are driven slowly, in unison, from the shaft 19, which in turn, as pointed out, receives its power from the combined fan and comb-roll-shaft 24. The belt-wheels-l@ are not mounted on a shaft, but on the contrary are journaled in flanged angular rings 38 aihxed to the respective side walls of the main casing.

To light-ly press the bobbins against the rapidly-traveling` teeth on the carding-belt, on roll 20, l employ a flexible strap 39 which resiliently bears upon a plurality of the bobbins while they are being stripped by the teeth of the belt. This flexible strap 39 lies in depressions formed in the separator-bars ll, these depressions being provided prin44 cipally to enable the flexible strap to bear directly upon the peripheries of the bobbins while they are in Contact with the carding teeth. The lower end 40 of this flexible strap extends out through a hole in the casing and is anchored to the exterior thereof, while the upper end of this belt is fastened to the periphery of the wheel 4l whose shaft is iournaled in a small dome 42 affixed to the casing, 17. A coil-spring 43 is connected to a projectingJ end of the shaft of the wheel 41 so as to normally turn the said wheel in the direction of .the arrow shown Fig. 5,

that is, over toward the right, thereby maintaining` a tension on the pressure-strap. Any suitable means may be employed for increasing or lessening; the tension on the strap by adjustment of the position of the wheel 4l, as is obvious.

As the bobbins are carried bodily along; under the strap 39, the carding teeth enthe yarn thereon and rapidly and completely pick the yarn off the bobbins in the manner of the well-known cardine or picking; action. The engagement of the teeth into the yarn rotates the bobbins on their axes, but too'rapid revolution of the bobbins is prevented by the friction engen dered by the flexible pressure-strap, so that by the time thebobbin has traversed the effective length of the carding-belt it has rotated (preferably with a surface speed slightly less than the surfacel speed of roll 20) one or more 'times and has thus gri-ven the belt an opportunity to 'completely pick off all the yarn. The comb-roll 27 continuously combs the lint from the carding-belt, and the fan maintains a continuous suction out of l the lint-chamber 28, whereby the lint that is combed ofi the belt is continuously removed from the lint-chamber.

The outlet-pipe 44 of the fan extends down vthrough a hole in the top of the collecting-bor; or chamber 45. This depending discharge-tube 44 extends through a screen 46 extending across the top of the casing 45, so as to discharge the lint into the casing at a point below this screen. The spent air passes baclr up through the screen 46 and out laterally through another screen 47, this latter screen being for the purpose of catching whatever line particles of lint the main screen 46 allows to esca e.

lt will be understood that the working position of the cardine` belt is suoli that when the bobbins pass olf the inclined support, i. e., top wall of the suction chamber, they will then ride upon the teeth of the carding-belt and maintain contact therewith approximately quarter around the same, after which, as shown in Fig. 5, they are permitted to ,gravitate away from the carding-belt and rest upon the interior of the wall of the rounded end ofthe casing until they reach the discharge-slot in the bottom of the casing. In Fig. 5, the cardcylinder is shown as moving in a direction opposite to that of the endless carrier, but it will be understood that the bobbins maybe delinted by running the carding surface in the same direction as the carrier. f i

Referring to the drawings of the modified form of the machine, l0 designates a cylindrical casing arranged in a horizontal position and closed at both ends by means heads ll which. are rigidly alfred to the top of the easing 12. `The cylindrical part 10 is provided With a longitudinal slot 13 in through which the bobbins are dropped'one by one in the actl of feeding them to the machine. They'may be dropped into this slot 13 by hand or from a hopper as mav be desired. v y i As the bobbins drop through slot 13 they fall between longitudinal bars 14 of'aconveyor and rest upon the outer surface of a stationary cylinder 15 which forms the suction-chamber and is mounted concentrically Within the casing 10. This cylindrical suction-chamber forms a guide and support for the bobbin' and hasrits ends rigidly bolted to the casing-heads 11, and it is provided adjacent said heads 11 with an annular radial flange 16 at each end, which flanges forni journals for a pair of rotatable rings 17 which carry the separating and conveying bars 14, whereby the cage-like conveyor consisting of said bars 14 and said rings 17 rotate on said. Hanges 16 concentrically in the casing. This rotary conveyor is driven by means of the gear 18 carried by one of the rings 17, ivhich gear meshes with a pinion 19 affixed to a short shaft journaled in the adjacent one of the heads 11 carrying the bevelgear 20. This bevel-gear 20 meshes with a companion bevel-gear 21 aiiiXed to a shaft 22 iournaled on said head and carrying at itsopposite end a. Worm-gear 23. l\,[eshing with the gear 2t is a Worm 24 affixed to a drive-shaft 25', which shaft receives the power from `an engine or motor throughithe medium of the belt 26 Iand a driven pulley 27.

,frt the rear, upper, side of the casing 15 this casing is open for a portion of its oircuinference. and 'projecting through this opening` is the Working-section of anendless belt 23 of cardeclothing of the usual kind. This carding-belt runs on a pair of rolls 29 Whose shafts are journaled at one end in the head 11 and at their Aother ends in bearings carried by the casing-head. To insurethe v\ voliking-side of the cardingbelt being maintained in the general path of movement of the bobbins .in the carrier, l provide a pair of small idle rolls 30 suitably journaled in the casing-heads. The

.gearing above described ivill drive the bob-i bin-carrier over toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 9, and suitable driving mechanism is provided for driving` the carding-belt in the direction, but at a much greater ieed. The position of thevvor'king side of the carding-belt is such that when the bobbins pass od the external surface of the stationary cylinder 15 they will ride upon the teeth of the carding-bel't and maintain coi-action therewith during approximately a quarter distance around the casing, after which, as shown in Fig. 9, they-are per' mitte'd to gravitate away from the cardingbelt and rest upon the interior of the Wall of the cvlinder'lO until they reachthe disextends out through a hole in the casing and is anchored to the exterior thereof?, and the upper end of this belt is fastened to the periphery` of a Wheel Whose shaft is journaled in a small dome 36 aiiixed to ythe casing cylinder 10. A coil-spring 37 is connected to a projecting end of the' shaft of the Wheel 35 so as to normally turn said Wheel in the direction of the arrovv shown in Fig.,91, that is. `over toward the right. thereby-maintaining a desirable tension on the `pressure-strap 32. `Any suitable means may be provided for increasing' or lessening the tension onthe strap by adjustment 'of the position of the' Wheel 35', asis obvious.

As the bobbins are carried bodily along under the strap 32', the' carding-teeth engage the yarn thereon and'rapidly' and completely pick the yarnof the-bobbins inthe manner of the well-known carding or picking action. The engagement ofthe teeth into the yarn rotates the bobbins on their a-Xes, but too rapid revolution of the bobbins is prevented by" the `friction engendered by the` flexible pressure-strap 32.V so thatby the time thbobbin hastraversed the length of the carding-belt it has slowly `rotated one or more times andy has thus given the belt an opportunity to completely pick off all the yarn. Continuously-operating means must be provided for combing the lint from 1 the carding-'belt To perform this function, I arran,fre' Within the suction-chamber 1 5 a comb-roll 36 whose axis is parallel With the surface of the carding-belt and Whose teeth engage theV teeth of the eardin'g-belt in a v Well-knowvnmanner. This comb-roll is rotated by means of'a shaft 37 journaled at one end in one of the suction-chamber heads 15 and Whose opposite .end extends out through an exit-passage 38 formed lin the oppositeJ head 11. This projectingvend of the shaft 37 is journaled on they outer wall of afan-casing 39, and at a point beyond the fan-casing the shaft is provided With a belt-pulley 4:0 which is' driven by a beltV Lt1 from the drive-shaft 25. A fan is affixed to theshaft 37, andY the'inlet'o-V the fan-casing is connected to the aforesaid outlet 38 oi the lint-chamber, whereby shaft 37 not only drives the comb-roll but will drive thel ian and thus maintain a continuous suction out of the lint-chamber. whereby the lint that is combed oit the belt by the comb-roll is continuously removed from the lint-chamber.l

The outlet-conduit 42 of the tan extends downwardly into a tube 43 extending up ythrough the top wall oi the casing l2. This Screen 414 and out laterally through another screen 45, this latter screen being for the purpose of catching whatever line particles ci lint the main screen 44 allows to escape.

In practice, it may be desirable to so arrange the apparatus that the carding-teeth.

on the cleaning belt shall strike the yarnwindings at a slightly oblique angle to the axis of the bobbin so as to thereby7 cause the teeth to more eiectively engage into the iibers oi the yarn than would be the case if the teeth traversed a path parallel or approximately parallel with the yarn windings. To accomplish this, l may arrange the teeth oi the carding-belt in a spiral zone or.path, as shown particularly in Fig. l2, a spiral untoothed Zone being provided between the coils of teeth. Another way (not shown) of thus attacking the yarn windings oblioluely is to arrange the separatingbars 14. in a slightly oblique position with reference to the axis of rotation, so that they will be maintained in an oblique position with reference to the carding-beltk during the time the belt is in action. When this arrangement is used, the entrance-slot 13 should be correspondingly inclined.

The driving mechanism for the belt 28 may be a belt 32 connecting a pulley on the drive-shaft 25 with a pulley on the shaft of one of the rolls 29.

The nature and scope of the invention having been thus indicated and its preferred embodiment having been specifically described, what is claimed as new is:

l. In a bobbin-stripping machine, a delinting-device having a, curved surface oiE flexible teeth, means 'for driving the same, an endless carrier passing around said surface and having compartments for carrying the bobbins, a flexible pressure-device engaging a plurality of the bobbins as they pass around said curved surface to press them lightly against the teeth. carried thereby, whereby the bobbins are caused to rotate and the waste yarn delinted therefrom, and means for continuously driving the carrier.

2. ln a machine of the Iclass set forth, a

rotary carrier and means for slowly driving it, a delinting appliance within the carrier and means for driving it at a rate faster than the carrier, and iiexible means for pressing the bobbins while in the carrier against the flexible teeth of the delinting appliance, for the purpose set'forth.

3. ln a machine of the class set forth, a casing provided with an entrance-slot and also an exit or discharge-slot, a carrier rotatively mounted within the casing and means tor slowly driving it, an inner stationary lint-chamber, means for delinting the bobbins and depositing` the lint in said chamber, and means for removing the lint from said chamber by air suction. A

t. ln a machine of the class set forth, a rotary carrier, a delinting toothed appliance located within the carrier, an external flexible pressure-strap, and spring means igor holding said strap taut against the bobbins during the delinting action.

5. ln an apparatus of the class set forth, an endless-belt-carrier carryingv a series of bobbin-spacing transverse bars, wheels for carrying said belt and means for driving said wheels, an endless yarn-picking appliance within said carrier, a suction chamber, means for supporting the bobbins until they pass onto the teeth of said yarn-picking appliance, means Ator holding the bobbins in` engagement with said teeth for a predetermined period, and means for removing the lint from said appliance and exhausting it from. said suction chamber.

6. ln a machine for stripping waste yarn from bobbins, a rotary delinting-app-liance provided with exible delinting-teeth, means for rotating the same, an endless carrier moving in a path concentric with the delinting-appliance and constructed to provide individual pockets for the bobbins, means ior continuously driving the carrier, flexible means for pressing a plurality of the bobbins lightly into contact with ythe ends of the teeth during the delinting process, whereby the engagement of the yarn with the teeth will cause the bobbins to rotate while in. contact with the teeth, and means for combing the lint from the teeth of the delinting-appliance.

7. ln a machine for removing the waste yarn from bobbins, a casing, a rotary toothed delinting-appliance within the casing, a suction-chamber located at one side of the delinting-appliance and enclosing a combing-appliance, suction-means connected to said suction-chamber` an endless carrier within the casing arranged to move the bobbins along on the upper wall of the suction-chamber, said wall terminating adjacent to the active portion of the delintingn appliance so as to deliver the bobbins directly onto the teeth of the delinting-appliance and allow them to rest thereon, .said

carrier being arranged to move the` bobbins in succession around the active surface of the delinting-appliance, whereby aplural number of the bobbins are being operated on at the same time. y

8. In a machine for removing waste yarn from bobbins, a casing, a toothed rotary delinting-appliance, a carrier adapted to move the bobbins in succession to a position so that they are supported on the teeth of said appliance and maintain them in contact therewith during a portion of their travel, said carrier being constructed of endless belts and separated bars, these bars being provided with depressions in their outer edges and a flexible strap-member lying in said depression, and resilient means for holding said strap-member taut sofas to press against the bobb'ms while they are being delinted and to hold them resiliently against the teeth of the delinting-appliance. 9. ln a machine for removing waste yarn from bobbins, means i'or removing the yarn in the form of lint, suction-means for removing the lint embodying a suction-fan, a separating-chamber into which extends the eduction-pipe of the fan a screen arranged across the chamber at a point between the y exit-end of theeduction-pipe and the adjacent wall of the chamber, and a screened outlet for the chamber communicating with the space between the screen and said adjacent wall of the chamber. y

ln testimony whereof I hereunto aiiixmy signature.

EDGAR ALLEN TERRELL.

Witnesses:

FRED D. BLAKE, J.' L.l KIMLEISL. 

